


With you, I can connect

by corsica



Category: Fate/Grand Order
Genre: Christmas Fluff, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff without Plot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:09:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28302114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/corsica/pseuds/corsica
Summary: Ritsuka, (Santa) Karna, and their Christmas spent together.
Relationships: Female Fujimaru Ritsuka/Karna | Lancer, Fujimaru Ritsuka/Karna | Lancer of Red
Comments: 6
Kudos: 17





	With you, I can connect

**Author's Note:**

> got this out quick because god i just love santa karna so much and had to write something out about him. he made life worth living again in this hell year. thank you pako for my life.
> 
> title taken from the english translated lyrics to "frozen hope", the song that plays over the christmas 2020 cm and the song i have been listening to on repeat ad nauseum because of course i have
> 
> this is so sappy i got secondhand embarrassment writing it please enjoy

“Ritsuka I”— _kiss_ —“am glad that you're”— _kiss—_ “happy to see me”— _kiss—_ “but we should—.”

His hood slips down from around his head as she grabs hold of his face to firmly shut him up, and he lets the punching bag fall from his hand as he is backed into a wall. Karna ultimately relents, and his fingers curl around her hips as he lets her completely pin him to the wall.

“Just”—she kisses him again—“give me a minute.”

They really do need to get going.

...But as she parts her lips against his tongue, he finds himself easily convinced that another five or so minutes of this wouldn't hold things up too badly.

By the time she's finally done with him, both of their lips are red and swollen and Ritsuka is carding her fingers through his hair as she stares up at him in awe. Hearts may as well have appeared in her eyes as she finally finishes fiddling with his hair, thumbs stroking against his skin as she cups his cheeks.

“When did you become this year's Santa?!”

Karna closes his eyes and thinks, “...I believe it's been a few hours.”

“A few hours?! I could've stopped looking for somebody to be this year's Santa ages ago, then!” Ritsuka sighs, “What class did you change to, anyway?”

“I'm a Saber, now.”

A shadow of skepticism falls over her face. She leans back from him for a second to eye him up and down.

“...Okay...but...where's your sword?”

“I do not need one. My fists are just like the flash of a sword.”

She rubs her chin in thought, and raises an eyebrow at him, “...Do you still shoot beams?”

“I still shoot beams.”

“Okay, _now_ you being a Saber makes more sense,” she brushes his hair out of his face, and the corners of her lips tug down into a frown, “Your hair is in your eyes even more than it usually is! You still look really good, but I like being able to see your eyes...”

His hands rest on her shoulders as he leans down to kiss her on the forehead.

“I'm sorry...I didn't have any control over how I would look once my Spirit Origin changed.”

“That's really my only complaint...” she pulls him into her again for a kiss, “...But I don't really understand why you have a boxing aesthetic going on. I thought you trained in martial arts...I don't know how easily that would translate to something like boxing...” she squints up at him, “Do you even _know_ how to box?”

“...I do now.”

“...Well, okay, I guess. Really, I just wish you had come to me sooner so I could've kept you to myself for a little longer, but I know we need to get going. I am a little surprised you took to this so easily though...not because you're not generous, but you're the son of the sun god...heat and Christmas don't really go together...I guess that applies to Quetzalcoatl, too, but she misheard it as _'samba'_ so it feels different for her.”

“There's a very easy explanation for that, Ritsuka,” he closes his eyes, “Santa is the children's sun...therefore, I can say that Surya is Santa.”

Ritsuka covers the bottom half of her face with her hand, her eyes squeezed shut.

 _'What the hell does that even mean?!_ _That made no sense at all!'_ she thinks, before her hand turns into a fist against her mouth, _'...I love him so much.'_

Karna's eyes open, and he cups the side of her face, a puzzled look on his face, “Are you alright, Ritsuka?”

“Mm-hm!” she takes her hand off her face, and wraps her arms around his neck, “Let's get going! I can't wait to see you in action.”

...Is what she had _said,_ but it's another five minutes of kissing him against a wall before she's _finally_ able to get going.

***

Ritsuka is exhausted by the time they finish everything up.

He had de-materialized the punching bag quite some time ago so he could carry her back to her room; by the time all the presents had been handed out— _after_ everything with Vritra was dealt with—she was dead on her feet and had only given a few token protests when he had picked her up.

“I was hoping we could have _one_ uneventful Christmas...” she murmurs as she tucks her head under his chin, “Oh well...There's still time left in the day. I'll light up the fireplace when we get back. It'll be nice to just sit by it with you, under a blanket.”

He stops as he reaches her door, and she touches her hand against his cheek as he kisses her softly before he lets her down. She strips down to her tank top, skirt, and socks once inside, and Karna takes the liberty of lighting the fire for her. His fingers come up to pull his hood down from his head as he approaches her stretching form, and Ritsuka turns as she feels his hand on her shoulder.

Karna kisses against her temple and his fingers run through her hair, eyes gentle as he stares at her, and she stands on her toes to kiss him sweetly.

“Before we get too comfortable and it slips my mind, let me get you your Christmas present.”

Karna blinks at her back as she turns and takes the few steps needed to get to the end table by her bed.

“Ritsuka, you didn't—.”

“—need to get you anything, yeah, yeah, I know,” she closes the drawer as she takes something out of it and clutches it in her fist, “...I wanted to, though.”

There's a hesitant look on her face as she stands in front of him, but she manages to push past it, and her slim fingers reach down for his right hand. Her lips press against his knuckles and she urges him to turn his hand over until his palm is facing up and his fingers are unfurled. Whatever she is holding, she brings it up, and places it carefully in his own, curling his fingers back around it reverently. In his hand, he sees a worn rabbit keychain with a single silver key attached; the plastic, chubby affectation of a white rabbit is scuffed from use, and the paint used for its eyes must've been black at one point, but it has since dulled to gray.

“...That's my house key,” she starts quietly, “...It was one of the only things I had on me when we had to escape Chaldea in Antarctica, and it's...probably the only thing I still have from before I joined Chaldea at all.”

Slowly, his eyes begin to go wide, and he tears his gaze away from his hand to look at her.

“...Ritsuka, I cannot...” he shakes his head, and his expression is one of melancholy as he stares at her, “...I can't...take this from you.”

“You're not taking it, I'm _giving_ it,” she holds his right hand between both of hers, keeping his fingers clasped over the keychain, “I've been hanging onto it...but the longer I go, the more it feels like a weight dragging me down...it's just a reminder of everything I've lost. And I know that letting you have it isn't going to stop the pain, or the grieving...but,” she looks at him with such a gentle, pure love, “Maybe letting this go will help me focus more on what I still have to cherish, instead of mourning what isn't there anymore.”

“I...”

He is trying to think of anything to say, but his tongue feels numb in his mouth. The corners of her eyes crinkle as she smiles at him, so tenderly it makes his heart pound.

“Karna...” her eyes shine like the sun, “...You make me happy.”

He eschews words entirely and wraps his arms tightly around her, burying his face in her neck. His free hand tangles in her hair as his eyes squeeze shut, and he eliminates whatever space is between them so he can hold her to him as close as he possibly can. She is so small, and so warm, and there is nothing he can do for her or say to her that will properly communicate just how much he loves her, but he will try, anyway.

“You are so much more than I deserve,” his voice comes out shakily, and he squeezes her, “...I love you, Ritsuka. Please...allow me to stay by your side...always.”

She breaks away from him and cups his head in her hands, bringing him down to kiss her in lieu of a response, though the _'I love you, too'_ whispered against his lips tells him everything he needs to know.

They move to sit in front of the fireplace not long after, a blanket draped over the two of them as he cradles her in his lap, and he meets her slow, lazy kisses until she begins to doze off against him. The keychain she had given him sits idly in his pocket, put aside for now until he can find a proper place for it.

It truly is something she doesn't need anymore, she thinks as she struggles to keep her eyes open. The warmth he offers is just so inviting, and as he takes her hand in his, black is already blurring the corners of her vision. She finally succumbs to the exhaustion that has settled into her bones, and she falls asleep to the feeling of his lips pressing against her forehead.

No, there's no need to keep it.

She is already home.

**Author's Note:**

> i still haven't watched the story past the prologue yet because the translation is pretty iffy, which is why there is absolutely nothing written about what happens w/ the whole vritra nonsense lol
> 
> anyway. happy holidays, all.


End file.
